Mitt Romney’s Final Share of the Popular Vote Will Probably Be Close to 47%

As the last few ballots are counted around the U.S., it seems as if the number that dogged the GOP nominee's campaign will also become its epitaph.

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Charles Dharapak / AP

Here’s a coincidence that will have Democrats chuckling: as the last few ballots are counted across the nation, it looks increasingly likely that Mitt Romney’s share of the popular vote was 47%.

The number crunchers at the non-partisan Cook Political Report calculate that Romney’s national vote haul will end up somewhere around 47.2%, thanks to yet-to-be-counted ballots in California and New York, according to the Washington Post.

The figure, of course, became infamous during the 2012 Presidential campaign when the progressive magazine Mother Jones released a video of Romney at a private fundraiser, writing off 47 percent of U.S. citizens as “victims” who refuse to “take personal responsibility and care for their lives.”

(MORE: Romney: Obama Won By Bestowing “Gifts” On Voters)

The phrase “47 percent” soon became shorthand for Mitt Romney’s difficulties — often self-inflicted — in getting past the ‘out of touch plutocrat’ label his opponents tarred him with. Now, the number has reappeared as an epitaph to the GOP candidate’s campaign.

The Cook Political Report calculates, meanwhile, that President Obama’s share of the popular vote will likely settle at 51%.

(MORE: Mitt Romney – Who Should Be TIME’s Person of the Year 2012?)